Race 1 - Day 26
Crew Diary - Race 1 Day 26: Liverpool to Punta del Este
15 September
Hello from Qingdao,
It is Chris (Q) from Australia writing today's blog for you - from closer to home now that we are back in the Southern Hemisphere. Here are some details about yesterday and the last few days, as well as my Bosun role on board Qingdao.
We have modified our watch system to allow a bit more recovery and sleep time for some crew as we had some very tiring periods involving multiple sail changes. We continue to sail in the southeast Trade Winds, which has meant winds on the nose, close hauled sailing with a moderate swell pushing the bow around and challenging the helm. Lots of squalls and reefing the Main up and down to keep the boat moving. Periodic rain showers rinse our salty bodies only to be accompanied shortly after with white water over the bow to salt us up again. The boat is on a steep heel making life on board - eating, sleeping, etc - difficult.
My role on board as Bosun is to keep all of the deck and rigging gear working. This involves preparation before the race and then repairs and monitoring the gear state whilst at sea. It is a great role when the gear works and you are familiar with how it works. It is not a great role when the inevitable gear failure occurs and a fix is required. The fixes usually involve access to a limited set of tools to work with, difficulty in undertaking the fix because of the conditions at sea, e.g. fixing in the lazarette where the rubbish of the last few weeks has accumulated, or fixing winch failures at night in hot, sweaty conditions, or working above your head with the boat on a 45 degree heel. But don't get me wrong, it is a satisfying role to support the race team by having all the gear working as needed or quickly fixed. And I look forward to a series of fixes and preventative maintenance when we arrive in Uruguay. This will be a lot easier than at sea as we will be motionless in a marina - oh joy! And I will have the support of the Clipper Race Maintenance Team to assist. They will bring needed parts for us to complete fixes and facilitate preventative maintenance. Looking forward to catching up with them and their great support.
I also have normal duties like the rest of the crew: cooking (where I admit to just providing support to one of our chefs Greg SChey), helming, sail change deck work, domestic duties (nice words for "cleaning up the mess of others" which naturally occurs due to the at sea conditions), and doing engine checks under the guidance of our Chief John Walsh.
What I find most enjoyable is the sailing and chatting with others in the crew, finding out a bit about them, and supporting them in any little way that I can. We all support each other closely. With a crew made up of individuals from many different countries, it is interesting to understand how they got involved in sailing and the Clipper Race, especially where I have little knowledge of the country involved, e.g. with our Chinese crew - Lisa (Liu Jingqiyand Frankie (Yi Zheng). Alternatively, with countries like the US where Mac (Stephen Mccormick) is from, it is great to discuss places I have been, hear his suggestions of others worth visiting, and understand his life history in brief.
All of this doesn't leave much time each day, with the watch system and our irregular, short sleeping hours. My Bosun role is supported by others who find things that need fixing, help fix them, ask what tools I have available for them to work with, etc. So I guess I play a bit of a back room role, but love it. As long as my fellow crew members don't unnecessarily break things!!
That's it for now from Qingdao.
Best wishes to all my friends and family.
Chris (Q - from the Bond film) to avoid confusion with Skipper Chris. He has a huge role and I admire how he goes about it. Perhaps I could "fit in his shoes" one day.